Saturday, October 29, 2011

Yes, it's Halloween at that hub of history, the Orange County Archives. This is, of course, a pretty easy report to file, because I work there. But I thought this might be a good time to introduce you to Archie the Archives Cat. Archie is a life-sized photo of an orange tabby cat, adhered to a magnet, which is, in turn, stuck to the side of our best library cart. It wasn't enough that County Archivist Susan Berumen introduced Archie to the Archives, but she also has little outfits for him, depending on the season and the holidays. Some of them are fairly amusing. He's wearing his Halloween ghost costume in the photo below, along with a top hat and handlebar moustache. Perhaps he is a "steampunk" ghost cat? I may share more of his other seasonal attire in future months,... Depending on how desperate I am for bloggable material.

The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed the gold witch trophy in the photo at the top of today's post. A closeup is provided below. Although its unclear who originally won this trophy, or when they won it, we do know it's an old trophy for the best "Horse Drawn Entry" in the traditional Anaheim Halloween Parade. I sort of had to talk someone into donating this to the Archives, and I'm so glad I did.

For those who want to use the Archives to dig into the history of Halloween in Orange County, we luckily have plenty of old newspapers, history books, and historic photos. The image below is a 1940s newspaper clipping about the Anaheim Halloween Parade, given to us by the family of the late Orange County Supervisor, James A. Baker. Supervisor Baker is shown on horseback as the grand marshal.

Have a happy Halloween! Put up decorations and pass out candy to the trick-or-treaters, or at least go out and do something that adds to the kooky/spooky fun. If you don't, the Great Pumpkin may question your sincerity.

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